I tried giving my animals the raw meat diet and they looked at me like I was daft.
Our dogs & cats have always (living memory, so 4 generations) been fed raw (& table scraps & hunting). And with the exception of poisoning/misadventure? Not one has lived less than 20 years, and most 25-30.
The Great Depression is the first time in recorded history that carnivorous pets were fed meat flavored grain & filler fiber. To be fair? It DID keep beloved pets alive, during crisis. But it’s also shortened the lives of their offspring to less than half of what it could be, as the “pet food” industry (new thing, previously all pets were fed raw/scraps), now a billion dollar industry, took off. It’s like watching anorexics die of multi organ failure in their 20s 30s 40s just because of the long term stress, and sloooooow attrition, of starvation.
Our butcher gets a bit cranky about BIG (whatever, farma, pharma, etc.) so refuses to charge more than 33 cents a pound for a raw pet grind, which is double their cost. But one CAN go to Whole Foods & pay $10 per pound for raw pet food, or grind your own for about $1 per pound. We use our butcher, as they’re paying whole sale on tens of thousands of pounds of meat/bone/organ per month. And is super cranky/dealy beloved. The tip jar? Is the “boob job fund” for an all female staff (except him, his wife & daughters to begin with, then their friends, etc.) that pays for what the f*ck ever… but the entire shop is a crack up. Seeeeerious humor, common sense, and general cantankerousness.
